Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-01-15
A SpOOK.
Wh0s 10 Ii and What it IL NOt-SOm(
which Have Bcen Seen.

The Saturday Repieac, having published an ar.
dee ON ''Spookical Research" has been besieged
by correspondents DESTROYS OF knowing what q
spook Is, and IL answers:
fhiloiogieaiiy, OF course. there Is no difficulty
about the matter. The Greek word psyche is
familiar TO many people who do not know Greek,
and the ingenious theory has been put forward
that the German thought we'll to adopt 1t into
thelr language, and, having well-grOunded dis
IKE 10 q WORD beginning with pS, they simply
transposed the eonsonants. Moreover, they
slightly specialized the meaning, as constantly
happens when worlds borrowed by one language
Thus Psyche, soul or spirit, became spuk, spirit,
apparltion or ghost. Finally, the Inhabitants OF
the cosmopolitan nberality which is one OF their
pfoudeSt boasts, learned the word from their GER
man fellow.ctizens and again slightly altered the
spoOk, the daughter Of Spuk and granddaughter
OF Pysche, became and was and still is a recog-
s nixed WORD wherever the English language Is
word for ghosts and things ghostly through
orE gIeaI part OF the American continent.
the inteIrogation, what is spook? requires for
It's fol and proper answer declaration as TO what
spook Is That, as already indicated, win prob
ably not be given within a measurable time But
lively what is a spook, is available for all and can
perhaps be set forth with peculiar advantage by
those who have watched with kindly interest the
then, to begin with simple instance, that you see
somebody who isn't there. What you see is a
spoOk. The person whom you see where he isn't
may De dead or alive, and may be in the next room
or on the other side OF the world but what you see
is spoOk all the same
nor does 1t matter how he came. He may be q
stranger, In eastern attire and may begin to twad-
die about planes, chelas gurus adopts and higher
selves and to offer to .materialize" some article
OF tr1fi1ng pecuniary value In that case he is the
astral principle OF somebody, probably Mahatma,
whose bodily prtnciple-which means his body-is
ylng motloniess In trance at some distant spot
But ne IS still spook. Or, again, he may be some
body whom you know perfectly well and to whom
you owe money, and who is at that very moment
having his throat cut in cannibal island He lisa
spook too. The one is occult, the other is tele.
pathed, but for practical purposes there is no diff
ference between them The apparttion Of person
who has been dead for some time is equally 8
spOok.
1t Is common knowledge that a great many
spooks nvert the proverbal duty OF little girls and
are heard and not seen. Information derived from
spo0klcal research shows clearly that they arr
sometimes felt, suggests that they have beer
smelt, and leads the professors OF that branch Of
learning TO express guarded hope that some day
they may be tasted The invisible, audible spOob
presents some difficulties OF his own in the way OF
definition. A man hears sound which is moi
made-e. g., the sound Of human song where nc
human larynx Is singing. Does he hear q SOUND
being made by spoOk, or is the sound he hears
research.
For the layman it is enough to know that In
either case the listener may accurately and, &C
cording to the common use OF language, be said K
smear spOOk." Dogs, carriages, balls OF fire
musical chords, drum beats and raps on the furni
ture may also be SpOOkS. 1t is hard to recognize q
rap as spook, because so many thousands of raps
are not spOOks at ALL but are produced in the ordt
nary way by mechanical appliances. Still 1t 1;
probable that some sort of raps, especially on win
dowS at the dead Of night, may be Spooks. But Of
course sheet and turnip, or smudge OF phos
phorCuS on the wall, are not SpOOkS. Whatever
else your SpOOk is or Is not, he must be genuine